Short Stories

The finalists held their breaths last week as the winners of the seventh annual Sylvia Wolens Jewish Heritage Writing Competition were announced at Temple Sinai in Delray Beach. Sylvia Wolens, a Boca Raton gerontologist and creator of the competition, presented the awards _ one for poetry, six for short stories, and five honorable mentions. "I began the competition as a way to document and preserve Jewish history and experiences," she told the audience. The contest is restricted to people ages 50 and older.

As Jean Matricaria looked at her church's bulletin, an ad for a special needs event jumped out at her. Ever since then, she has been seeing all sorts of fundraisers, events and foundations centered on helping the developmentally and intellectually disabled. This was all the confirmation she needed to start her second book. Her first book, "America's Poetic Tribute," commemorates the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York. Her second book will honor and support those who are developmentally and intellectually disabled.

The Creative Zone is a showcase of artwork, poetry, short stories and other creative work by elementary and middle school students. The following short story was written by a student in Joyce Seigel's language arts class at Tequesta Trace Middle School in Weston. Blueprint My living room. The three words bring a flood of memories to mind. Memories of slumber parties where we stayed up all night, giggling. One time we all popped all of my helium balloons, making our voices squeaky and high as we rolled on the floor with laughter.

"Full Dark, No Stars. " Stephen King. Scribner. $27.99. 368 pp. For a writer whose books need a big stage, Stephen King also can turn out shorter stories just as gripping as his epic novels. All four stories in "Full Dark, No Stars" are about the dark turns taken in relationships between men and women. Uneven in length, they also are ambiguous in morality, which is one of the delights of this book. My favorite, "Big Driver," features a 30-something author out on a speaking engagement that ends badly when her hostess sends her on a shortcut home.

This Bantam Classic edition in two volumes includes all the short stories and four novels featuring the pipe-smoking detective. The volumes, issued to mark the 100th anniversary of the appearance of A Study in Scarlet, include an introduction from mystery writer Loren D. Estleman. -- LORD PETER. By Dorothy Sayers. Perennial, $8.95. For fans of Lord Peter Wimsey, this volume contains all of Sayers` short stories starring the English sleuth. As a bonus, there also is an article about the author and her detective called "Sayers, Lord Peter and God" and a parody of a Wimsey tale called "Greedy Night."

Author and journalist Christine Craig will read from her book, Mint Tea, a collection of short stories about Jamaica. The reading will take place from 1:30-2:30 p.m. Saturday at the county library's Lauderhill branch, 4257 NW 12th St. The event is free. For more information, call 537-3159.

Jerry Boyd, a boxing trainer whose search for literary recognition ended two years ago when he published a book of short fiction under the name F.X. Toole, died Sept. 2 of complications after heart surgery at a hospital in Torrance, Calif. He was 72. Mr. Boyd's picaresque life as a bartender, bootblack, longshoreman, private detective, teamster, actor and bullfighter sounded fictional. During his life, he said, "I was close to the seven deadly sins at all times." He wrote novels, plays, short stories and screenplays, but always unsuccessfully.

Mario Soldati, a prolific Italian writer and film director, died on Saturday at his home in Tellaro, near La Spezia. He was 92. Although Mr. Soldati became a household name in Italy as the director of 29 films from 1931 to 1960, writing was thought to be his stronger talent. In a career spanning almost 70 years, he successfully tried his hand at journalism, short stories, poetry, novels as well as screenplays, many of which celebrated the quirkiness of human nature. Born into an aristocratic family in Turin and educated by the Jesuits, Mr. Soldati spent his youth rebelling against his controlling mother, his narrow-minded upbringing and a severe church school.

Whether your plans this summer involve travel, work or laziness, reading can be an accommodating asset. A great book can complement your flight, relax your nerves after work, and cure your boredom. The following books contain an equal amount of adventurous journeys and literary credentials to delve into during the summer. Sophie's World: A Novel about the History of Philosophy, by Jostein Gaarder: As its title suggests, Sophie's World is about philosophy. At the same time, it is the story of Sophie, a young girl who is uncovering the mysteries of her existence and the essence of the world.

With "F. Scott Fitzgerald: Winter Dreams," American Masters explores the life of the talented writer who produced one play, many articles, essays, letters and short stories, and five novels. One of them, The Great Gatsby, was voted by Modern Library as the second-best novel of the 20th century. Fitzgerald went to Princeton but did not graduate, having neglected his studies in favor of writing scripts and lyrics for college musicals and contributing to the humor and literary magazines. While serving in the Army in June 1918, Fitzgerald was sent to Camp Sheridan near Montgomery, Ala., where he met pretty, audacious Zelda Sayre, who would become his wife.

Sudden Fiction Latino: Short-Short Stories From the United States and Latin America. Edited by Robert Shapard , James Thomas and Ray Gonzalez. Norton. $15.95, paper. 336 pp. This new anthology of short-short fiction includes voices of Latino writers from the United States -- immigrants or descendants thereof, who write in English -- alongside Latin American writers, reminding us that, in the 21st century, identities are complex and resilient enough to transcend linguistic, geographic and aesthetic borders.

A spirited talk about what has given a 100-year-old woman a renewed zest for life and a humorous take on Adam and Eve. These are among the highlights of the Boca Raton Theatre Guild's ninth annual Short Play Reading Festival this week at the Willow Theatre at Sugar Sand Park in Boca Raton. Featuring eight original short plays of 10 minutes or less and two monologues, the program offers a variety of themes. "There are a couple of serious pieces, but it's mostly upbeat. We thought that, given the situation in the world today and the state of the economy, upbeat would be best," said guild vice president Carol White, who will direct five of the pieces.

A spirited talk about what has given a 100-year-old woman a renewed zest for life and a humorous take on Adam and Eve. These are among the highlights of the Boca Raton Theatre Guild's 9th Annual Short Play Reading Festival this week at the Willow Theatre at Sugar Sand Park in Boca Raton. Featuring eight original short plays of 10 minutes or less and two monologues, the program offers a variety of themes. "There are a couple of serious pieces, but it's mostly upbeat. We thought that, given the situation in the world today and the state of the economy, upbeat would be best," said guild vice president Carol White, who will direct five of the pieces.

A spirited talk about what has given a 100-year-old woman a renewed zest for life and a humorous take on Adam and Eve. These are among the highlights of the Boca Raton Theatre Guild's 9th Annual Short Play Reading Festival this week at the Willow Theatre at Sugar Sand Park in Boca Raton. Featuring eight original short plays of 10 minutes or less and two monologues, the program offers a variety of themes. "There are a couple of serious pieces, but it's mostly upbeat. We thought that, given the situation in the world today and the state of the economy, upbeat would be best," said guild Vice President Carol White, who will direct five of the pieces.

In Other Rooms, Other Wonders. Daniyal Mueenuddin. Norton. $23.95. 247 pp. No one can accuse Daniyal Mueenuddin of poor timing. His debut collection of linked stories about life surrounding a wealthy Muslim family in Pakistan arrives just as that country, an exotic blank to most in the West, presses itself ever more insistently upon our geopolitical anxieties. The central figure of In Other Rooms, Other Wonders is K.K. Harouni, the sophisticated patriarch of a rich land-holding clan, though he figures as a protagonist in only one of the eight interconnected stories.

By LOURDES RODRIGUEZ-FLORIDO Special to the Sun-Sentinel, February 24, 1999

While many writers come across as if they carry the weight of the world in their pens, Richard Grayson of Davie takes his craft in stride. After all, he says his short stories haven't made him rich or even had that much of an audience. "Do whatever you want with them," he answers, when asked if he wants his short stories back. "You can toss them in the trash if you want." Not taking his work too seriously is a refreshing attitude from such a successful writer. Grayson has had several collections of short stories published and had fiction stories and nonfiction articles appear in more than 175 magazines, anthologies, and newspapers.

Hemingway in Africa: The Last Safari. Christopher Ondaatje. The Overlook Press. $37.50. 240 pp. From early childhood Ernest Hemingway was enthralled by the exciting mysteries of the Dark Continent--Africa. At 10 he eagerly devoured newspaper accounts of the African expedition of his boyhood idol, Theodore Roosevelt. This fascination later took the form of two safaris to Africa. The first, in the 1930s, led to two of the writer's best short stories, both preoccupied with the theme of death.